FancyPants Group- CLOSED

Hi, I'd like to sign up.  I'm focusing on a half marathon in May and then will start actually training for a tri after that.  So I may be a little early, but I'd love to start getting information and pointers now.  I figure I'll be using swimming and biking as cross training during my 1/2 training. 

Hi Anne - I'd like to join in too.  My history is that I was a recreational ice hockey player that did nothing but skate until I stopped playing around age 30.  My wife bought me a mountain bike for my 30th birthday, then I bought me a road bike and I was a cyclist for 6 or so years.  I've ridden many rides in the 60 - 65 mile range.  A usual long weekend ride was in the neighborhood of 40-45 miles.  Then life gets in the way of cycling, and I gain a lot of weight.  Fast forward a year or two, I drop nearly 40 lbs and start running and find that while not the fastest guy, I'm far from the slowest.  I've run a few 5K's and 10K's.  I'm currently training for a 10 mile race in May, and will hopefully run the PDR (1/2 marathon) in September.  I've also been riding my bike on the trainer in the basement again.  I'm also looking for a place to swim.  I'll probably wind up joining a gym early in 09 so that I can swim.  I've never been a swimmer, so this will be my weakest link.  There are a few sprints that I'd like to enter this summer, just to get my feet wet, so to speak.  I'm also looking for a balance between my midlife crisis (just turned 40 in November) and my family (wife and 8 yo son).

One thing to add....I DIDN'T take today off as a training day.  I did a 6 mile run this morning after gifts and breakfast was done!  Which is a good thing, based on what I've eaten over the past two days!

Scout

Room for 1 more??

I'm Jeff, from Boise, ID.  46, recently divorced, single parent of 15 yr old son and shared custody of 14 yr old and 7 yr old.  Have been a runner for most my life, started cycling in the late 80's when LeMond was 'the man'.   This last season was my first real tri season (1 sprint, 1 duo, 2 olys), but I will regularly do a handful of half-marathons, 10Ks and local charity bike rides and multi-day bike tours.  I work 12 hours shifts that rotate every 10 weeks while trying to maintain some kind of 'personal' life.  I could bring to the table a fair bit of mechanical expertise ( I work pt in my LBS) and some hard earned "life lessons" type" of cycling advice.  Swimming is my weakness by far.  I believe in training smarter not longer.   I hope you all can find a spot for me.  Happy Holidays.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone.  I'm very new to the site so figuring out how to add friends, etc., is still new for me.  I'm fumbling around with it.

I do not have a plan yet for my HM.  I am signed up with a local running company here in Columbus to join  one of their training groups.  Although I'm not sure if I will be able to follow through with that since they do their long runs on Sat etc.  My kids are almost full grown, but I still have family obligations with them and my BF, so Saturdays just don't work for me.  I do most of my training on my lunch hour and the weekends are usually full with other things. 

The longest I have ever run is 8 miles so working up to 13 is going to be a challenge for me.  I want to do it at least the one time and then we'll see from there.  I think I'll probably drop back to 5 - 10K's after that with the sprint tri and possibly a oly.  We'll see.

I need the training to keep me motivated with working out and to help keep off the 40 lbs I lost a few years ago. 

Anne, I am from Columbus and have seen several tri's listed in the area for this coming year.  I just have to decide which one(s) I want to do that won't interfere with camping/hiking/diving etc.  My BF isn't into running etc, but we do enjoy many other activities together.  It's hard to not let my obsession take over and remember to make time for the other things we enjoy together.  So I'm being very careful to work racing etc, around our other passions.  It's a juggling act sometimes. 

Hello!  I would love to join the group!  I am a busy mom of 4 looking to participate in my very first tri athlon in August.  It is an all womens sprint called Tri for a Cure here in Maine where i live.  I am a complete newbie to a lot of training.  My strength I believe is bicycling although my fitness level is very much beginner.  I am most nervous about the swimming portion as I am a very weak swimmer.  I gained and lost 70lbs with my last child and have been active fairly regularly for the last year.  i want to take my fitness to the next level and I believe a triathlon sprint would be a great gauge of how far zi've come.  I look forward to learning all aspects of the sport especially training and transitioning.  Thanks!

Heather

Good news!  I may have found a pool that I can use that won't break the bank.  I found a swim center that's about 20 minutes from my house where you buy a 10 visit card that has no expiration!  I can put my boy on the bus, then go swim for 30 or 40 minutes and be home in time to start my work day (I telecommute full time) relatively on time!  I'm going to check it out next week.  I'll also check out Triathlete magazine...Thanks for the tip!

 Matt

I uploaded my log from another site and something isn't quite right with it.  I've redone it and tweeked it several times but it's still showing way more miles that what I did last year.  (I think some how it's got some duplicates somewhere.)  I gave up   My real mileage is between 12 - 18 mpw and I have just under 700 for the year.  I thought I might hit the 700 goal, but the weather here in Ohio hasn't been condusive as you know.  (No more rubbing it in Jeff ) 

Ginny AKA Scubagrrl

Jeff, nice to meet a fellow south floridian.  I grew up in Tampa, FL and moved to SC for two years for hubby's job, but I am so glad to be back.  Even though south florida is pretty different from the west coast of fl. 

As for the tri Christmas gifts, I was lucky and got a helium fuel belt from my mom and I picked one up for my hubby too.  He's joining me on the princess 1/2 marathon race in Disney and we are both a little nervous about our first 13.1 mile race. I also got the January issue of triathlete magazine and a book, "Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week".  Hopefully it's a good one.

I even got in a little training christmas eve, 2 mile run, and christmas day, 10 mile bike ride. Today was just a short 2 mile walk because hubby and I got into a discussion instead of running :-) Tomorrow is another day though!

I really need to find a pool in South FL to start swimming again.  Running and biking is great down there (I don't know how those in the north do it, kudos to you!), but swimming is my problem. I guess I could swim in the ocean... Ah well, it's nice to meet everyone and enjoy your weekend!

GRRR.....I can relate.  I heard back from the swim center.  Due to some "financial distress" they are currently not open.  They are hoping to reopen at some point and will keep me on their lap swimmers mailing list.  When I read the minutes of their last meeting online, I read distress to mean mismanagement.

Okay, so things aren't looking great on the pool front.  I'll probably wind up joining a gym pretty soon.  With the discount through my health insurance company, it won't hurt that much. 

 Just got back from 10.4 miles on the bike...such a nice day temp wise around here that I actually rode outside for the first time in a long time.  I was reminded that there is no way to simulate hills on a trainer.  I need to ride outside more!

 Matt

Hello all and thanks for allowing me into the group.

My logs have been pretty bare the last couple months, I know.  Stress, fretting and 'pondering life' are not training log-able activities. I've been taking some time off to try and heal a detached hamstring attachment and a cantankerous, 46 yr old, right knee.  I'm a federal police officer for the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs so I often work long and unusal hours.  I will return to my workouts before Jan. 01-I don't want to be called a "resolutionist"  

I'm doing a 10 second OWS on New Years Day (The Great Polar Bear Challenge for the Idaho Make-A-Wish Foundation).  Nice to meet you all! jeff

Got a swim in yesterday with the masters team.  We were doing 100's...I got mine down to 1:35 with 10 seconds rest, my fastest yet.  But I doubt I could hold that for very long.  Hopefully that will soon become easy.

I didn't get to go out on Saturday when it was almost 70 degrees here   Family in town etc...no running for me over the weekend.  Which really is not unusual.  I try to get all of my training done during the week, the weekend is normally not scheduled although when the weather is better I usually do lots of cross training in ways such as skiing, camping, hiking etc. 

Today is supposed to be our last day of fairly good weather (50 I think) So I'm hoping to make a run outside today.  Might be my last one for a while. 

7 mile, very windy run for me this morning.  7 miles is my new distance pr!  Woo hoo!  I've also been in touch with the local Y.  Their membership coordinator is going to leave a one day pass for me at the desk that I can use to check out the masters swim group.  Looks like I'll be joining the Y early in 09.

Question about the masters swim group though.  Generally what can I expect when I get there?  Is it typically a very organized swim team type practice, or is it more along the lines of casual lap swimming?  I really have no idea what it's like, so if you have any experience with a masters swim group, please post some experiences!

 Thanks!

 Matt (scout21)